Reviews (11)

a bit disappointed
I have loved everything I have read by Atwater-Rhodes in the past, which is just about everything she has ever written.Unfortunately, I found this book a bit wanting.She did have a great twist on the story, and I am not talking about the romance part, that was pretty obvious.More along the line of the magic.What didn't do it for me was the herione.I found her lacking.She just didn't seem worthy of all that worship, friendship, and love she received from every living soul she encounter.Atwater-Rhodes gave no reason for this blind faith in this character.Just what made her so special?
Good book (INCLUDES SPOILERS)
SPOILER ALERT
Excellent - Quenched My Thrist For More Interesting Shapeshifters to Read About!
I have read all of Amelia's books - Snakecharm, then Hawksong being my favorites. Falcondance dissapointed me only because I got one little taste of the characters I was REALLY interested in - Sive, Salem, and especially Oliza - before I was whisked off to Ahnmik with Nicias, whose character I found less interesting than the others.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Children's 12-Up - Literature - Classics    3. Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction    4. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    5. Fiction    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Kings, queens, rulers, etc.    8. Legends, Myths, & Fables - General    9. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    10. Snakes    11. Juvenile Fiction / Legends, Myths, Fables / General   

Editorial Review

Read more

Reviews (613)

Not just a retelling!
You would think retelling the same story from a different perspective would be a recipe for a terrible novel and low sales.Think again.
Enders Shadow
Are you a person who loves science fiction, action, suspense, mystery, humor, and treachery? If you like four out of the six then Enders Shadow fits your expectations and more!
Audio Version Review
I won't address the book other than to say it stands alone and doesn't need Ender's Game for you to understand it.I'm addressing the AUDIO CD.The male voices are great - easy to understand and hear.The female voice I am surprised that she sounds like she's falling asleep while she is portraying the main female character.When she switches to other voices as the different characters speak, she sounds fine and has talent to keep those voices consistent with each character.So why is she trying to put us to sleep during the majority of her portion of speaking? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Science Fiction    3. Science Fiction    4. Science Fiction - General    5. Fiction / Science Fiction / General   

Reviews (1)

One of the best of the complete editions
Not long ago (once upon a time), one might correctly havedeclared Chapman's edition of Jane's complete works as 'the definitive collection.'
Read more

Subjects:  1. 19th Century English Novel And Short Story    2. Classics    3. Fiction    4. Literature - Classics / Criticism    5. Literature: Classics    6. 19th century fiction    7. English    8. Fiction / Classics    9. Literature/English | British Literature    10. Novels, other prose & writers: 19th century    11. Other prose: 19th century   

Editorial Review

A masterpiece of modern Gothic literature, Read more

Reviews (186)

Heartwarming Horror - No kidding... and it's great.
Well, Ray Bradbury pulled off something I never thought I'd see: heartwarming horror.Something Wicked This Way Comes is a truly frightening horror story about two boys living in a midwestern town visited by a mysterious carnival and its group of evil proprietors and "freaks."The boys see too much and become the target of the malevolent forces of the carnival.Bradbury writes these characters to be truly frightening.
Carousel music from hell
Carnivals are creepy. I have always thought they were creepy and I will not hear otherwise. My only source of confusion is whether I've always felt this way or only since reading "Something Wicked This Way Comes."
Evil Is A Soft Option
Ray Bradbury's dark novel of a mysterious carnival that strolls one night into a quiet Midwestern town has attained a deserved classic status in the forty-some years since its unheralded release. Here Bradbury's oft-demonstrated gift for recalling the mindset of childhood and returning it however briefly to a reader, is in full bloom. Two thirteen-year-old boys, James Nightshade and William Halloway, each a sort of contrast of the other, exist as the heroes in this fable of good versus evil. In this book the weight of the desires of the human heart and the capacity of those desires to ensnare the soul (here, literally) merit the fullest exploration. Nowhere else in literature is a Mephistophelian bargain made so simplistically appealing, and it is a delight to see how Bradbury delivers his temptations like ripe red apples inwardly rotten to the core. And while thinking about the nature of evil, it seems certain constants have been there to bind the forces of ill in the genre of light versus darkness. One of these is that evil has universally stood revealed in the end. Can evil not hide itself? It seems it always gives its nature away. In this book at least Bradbury has the unmasking come in the form of the intuitive perspicacity of two small boys. I liked this enjoyable tale and I liked its characters, from the wickedly charismatic ringmaster Mr. Dark, to its peculiarly vulnerable wicked witch, to the town librarian, Mr. Halloway, whose seemingly dull life is truly one of secret worlds opening to him each night amid the stacks of books. And what WOULD we each give, either now or one day, to be young all over again? Stop to think about that. And if not a return to youth, do we each have some secret desire for which we would do anything, or pay any price? Under the guise of a soft read, Something Wicked This Way Comes delves deep into humanity's consciousness, and explores what lies within. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fantasy - Dark/Horror    3. Fiction    4. Literary    5. Literature - Classics / Criticism    6. Science Fiction    7. Science Fiction - General    8. Crime & mystery    9. Fiction / Fantasy / General   

Editorial Review

With language as colorful as a Canyonlands sunset and a perspective as pointed as a pricklypear, Cactus Ed captures the heat, mystery, and surprising bounty of desert life. Read more

Reviews (104)

I try to imagine a ride along the river...
Edward Abbey is a contradiction. A poet when describing the wonders of the desert and the joys of solitude; then he becomes a strident critic ofhis fellow man if they have the audacity to disagree with him. There is a definite will and intelligence driving the prose, but it is partially spoiled by the rants that Abbey goes on. The book has a split personality; celebrating the wilderness, but using a voice that often becomes so disagreeable that you might want to take asphalt to the park yourself. Finally though the poet wins out and you go along for the ride. I try to think of this book as rafting down the river, enjoying the wonders and trying to avoid the jagged rocks. A little white water is fine; just don't hold me underwater forhours at a time.

A yawn as big as the Grand Canyon
When this book first came out, it started a nationwide cult, primarily of college-aged students, who suddenly became entranced with nature and began to rally against the forces trying to contain it.Although he had written three prior books, this was Abbey's first major success as he relates stories from his two summers as a Park Ranger in the Arches National Monument in southeast Utah.There is no straight narrative here, just bits and pieces from his experiences in this desert land.He also finds time to boat down the Colorado River through the Glen Canyon before it is forever flooded by another massive dam. Although I stuck with this book to the end, I found it more sleep inducing than inspiring.Although written well, Abbey seems to find it necessary to include the names, bothEnglish and Latin, of every single plant and bush that grows in this desert.He even endlessly names the rocks. Then he goes on to the stars! And that trip down the river was mostly repetitive glimpses down side canyons.However, this is a forerunner to one of my favorite books, Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang," as he gives us glimpses into the beginnings of eco-terrorism with the pulling up of surveyors' stakes and the destruction of billboards.I have read the "Gang" many times, "Solitaire" will just be once.

"Arches" Outshines Abbey's Militant Gibberish
Abbey is the type of person that you will either love or hate.There is no middle ground.Personally, I find few things in this book that do Arches the justice that it deserves and I can't tolerate Abbey's selfish militant eco-hermit gibberish.That being said, I'm a scientist and I realize the importance of preservation of our wild lands and I constantly encourage people to become involved BUT I will never become so selfish as to propose exclusion of these places to handicapped people.Futhermore, I could never place a snake's life in higher regard than a human unless the human is a worthless piece of sh*t.So, you can tell I'm not on the majority's side here...I won't glorify this Abbey's book like others have done in these reviews.Do yourself a favor and VISIT Arches and see these things for yourself.Its the most beautiful place you will likely see out West.For something really enjoyable, read anything by John Wesley Powell...won't be written about Arches but will describe the West in its early, unexplored days. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Arches National Park    2. Biography    3. Desert biology    4. Essays    5. General    6. National parks and reserves    7. Natural Resources    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Park rangers    11. United States    12. Utah    13. Modern fiction    14. Nature / Natural Resources   

Reviews (2)

THE BOOK FOR ABBEY FANS
This is a wonderful book for Ed Abbey fans because it reflects in his letters the many sides of Abbey we find in his writings, from his curmudgeonly old crank statements, his love of wilderness, and his heart felt feelings (such as his letter to his dad March 1975).I especially liked the foreward by Terry Williams.Oh! Where are you George Washington Heyduke?Someone should make of movie of the Gang!

Abbey: Now, more than ever
This book is a great reminder of how far ahead of his time Abbey was.Issues he was concerned about 40 or 50 years ago are argued with a passion and intellect that is missing from today's political discourse.Also missing today is the humor and constructive anger which served as an undercurrent for much of his writing.Beyond all this literary mumbo-jumbo, Abbey still makes for a great read.This is possibly the last of his writing to be published.Savor it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1927-1989    2. 20th century    3. Abbey, Edward,    4. American - General    5. Authors, American    6. Correspondence    7. General    8. Letters    9. Literary Collections    10. Literature - Classics / Criticism    11. Literature: Classics    12. Nature / Essays   

Editorial Review

Read more

Reviews (569)

Great Story, but Sometimes Shallow Writing
There are already many reviews that cover the story and characters, so I'm not going to waste our time with that. Instead I'll give my opinions on the actual writing and style of the story. Overall, I thought it to be good, with a lot of potential, but could have been much better. There were three things I didn't like, and which kept me from rating it as a 4 or even 5 out of 5 stars.
A wallowing, depressing and ugly book with no redeeming value whatsoever
This is the worst, most depressing piece of fiction I have ever read.There is no real protoganist and not one singular character worthy of admiration--and after a while, their actions just become inexplicable.The author's soul must truly be an ugly one to have devoted so much time and energy to using his mind to generate so many casual acts of evil throughout the book.It starts out promising but by the time you get to about halfway through the book or so you get a nagging sense that your very own soul might be sucked out of you and permanently stolen by the heart of Neil Gaiman's darkness or one of his minions.Additionally, the characters' motivations change like the shifting sands, nothing they do makes any real sense except some inexplicable movement towards doing greater and more evil en masse like some sort of coagulating bacteria or disease.What is so creepy about this book is the casualness of it all.Unlike some of Stephen King's work (ie: The Stand), there is absolutely no redeeming thread here--no rallying or marshalling the troops to combat the emerging evil.It's evil in evil vs. evil surrounded by evil.All I can say is that this book is ugly, ugly, ugly.At least writers like Joyce Carol Oats and Joseph Conrad's intentions when writing about such things is to effectively demonstrate the ill effects of such darkness, but to make heroes of characters one should avoid is unconscionable.The choices the supposed protoganist makes make no sense--and you do root forhim in the very beginning but you find he is just like one of them after all.I suspended my doubt and disbelief as long as I could but finally became so incensed by the audacity of both the literary critics and the author to pass this off as excellence, I literally stopped mid-sentence and chose to never read this author's work again.It's a shame too because he has allied himself in other incarnations with a truly gifted artist, Dave McKean, who maybe hasn't completely gone over to the dark side like Neil has.His association with Dave McKean is the only reason I even opened-up the book--and maybe a little because the title intrigued me.But it's unfortunate that the industry rewards "clever" works such as Mr. Gaiman's with undue praise.I've never so strongly disliked a book.Have you ever found yourself getting angry because you felt robbed or duped by a book?Well, don't believe the hype, this is the one to throw in the trash or disintegrate with X-men eyeball laserbeams before all your humanity is sucked out of you.

Another Gaiman Success
If you are looking for a novel filled with action, this is not it.The only complaint I have is that at times, the book was slow and had me asking "Well?Isn't there anything else?"
Read more

Subjects:  1. Bodyguards    2. Ex-convicts    3. Fantasy - Contemporary    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - Fantasy    6. National characteristics, Amer    7. National characteristics, American    8. Spiritual warfare    9. Fiction / General    10. Modern fiction    11. Horror    12. Reading Group Guide   

Editorial Review

Terry Brooks's Read more

Reviews (126)

"Did You Sell Your Soul for So Little?"
Terry Brooks is best known for his "Shannara" series, which is immensely popular despite being rather obviously inspired by Tolkien's plots, characters and themes. For reasons even I can't explain, I've read quite a few of these novels (despite my distain for them) and so I can say with a fair amount of confidence that "Running with the Demon" is undoubtedly Brooks's best novel. Moving away from his fantasy subworld of dwarfs, elves, magical talismans and plucky young farmboys-cum-heroes, the only thing Brooks hangs on to is his good against evil theme, placing it in contemporary America.
Modern horror in a positive vein
Capsule Summary: Rating: Excellent. A "positive horror" novel which is well-written, well-paced, and clever.
Running With the Demon
I thought this book was an excellent book! It had me hooked from page one!I sat down and finished the book within 36 hours since I wasn't able to put it down! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fantasy    2. Fantasy - Contemporary    3. Fiction - Fantasy    4. Fiction / Fantasy / General   

Reviews (115)

Brilliant
I was first introduced to Neil Gaiman in the book "Good Omens" which he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett.I loved the book and was immediately intrigued by this author.However, though I loved the story of the second Gaiman novel I read, "American Gods," I was slightly turned off by the mean-spirited nature of the book.
Delightful and ultimately touching
Having found "American Gods" disjointed and too dark, I'd avoided "Anansi Boys" until recently hearing that it is more in the vein of "Neverwhere."Indeed, although the book includes a murder, ghosts, deadly supernatural foes, and the most ominous flocking of birds this side of Hitchcock, it's great fun.The mingling of the macabre and the funny isn't quite up to the level of "Neverwhere," but that deficit is counterbalanced by the themes of family and self-discovery in "Anansi Boys."

Comedic, Engrossing, and Well-Written
Since there are already many reviews about the actual storyline and characters, I'll focus this on what I thought about the writing and style of the novel. In short, I really, really liked it. Although I had been a big bookworm as a child, I have not read very much fiction as an adult because I did not find many books I really enjoyed. This book has sparked my interest again. I bought it on a Friday afternoon and kept reading until I finished it around midnight of the next day. This will probably stand out as one of my favorite books.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Anansi (Legendary character)    2. Brothers    3. English Science Fiction And Fantasy    4. Fantasy    5. Fantasy - General    6. Fathers and sons    7. Fiction    8. Fiction - General    9. General    10. Fiction / General   

Editorial Review

Orson Scott Card finally explores what happened on earth after the warwith the Buggers in the sixth book of his Ender series, Read more

Reviews (227)

Why didn't somebody warn me?
You loved Ender's Game, right?
Well written and intriguing

Overall, a Good Book
Shadow of the Hegemon, like speaker for the dead, is a little disappointing after reading Enders Shadow, and Enders Game. The only reason I believe people read these books, is because they loved Enders Game so much, they cant bear to stop reading the books and reliving the experience over and over again.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Science Fiction    3. Science Fiction    4. Science Fiction - General    5. Fiction / Science Fiction / General   

Reviews (2)

Phenomenal Fantasy Adventure!
Right up there with the very best of J.R.R. Tolkien, this book (and this trilogy) has everything any fantasy reader could want. I gulped this book down instantly, and now I've started a second read. There's just so much adventure, humor, and rich meaning in this book! This is T.A. Barron's best ever -- and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. (My vote is a return to Avalon!)

Avalon: A magnificent creation
"You know, Tamwyn, you have your own inner flames, though they cannot be seen.And the most powerful fires reside in the soul."And what a magnificent creation Mr. Barron has brought forth through his own powerful flames!This book--the third in The Great Tree of Avalon trilogy--is incredible.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Avalon (Legendary place)    3. Children's 9-12 - Fiction - Fantasy    4. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    5. Children: Grades 4-6    6. Fiction    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Legends, Myths, & Fables - General    9. Magic    10. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    11. Wizards    12. Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic   

Editorial Review

T. J. Jones is black, Japanese, and white; his given name is The Tao(honest!), and he's the son of a woman who abandoned him when she got heavilyinto crack and crank. As a child he was full of rage, but now as a senior inhigh school he's pretty much overcome all that. With the help of a goodtherapist and his decent, loving, ex-hippie adoptive parents, he's not onlyfairly even-keeled, he has turned out to be smart and funny. Read more

Reviews (70)

It takes a book this good for people to want to censor it.
Chris Crutcher, Whale Talk (Dell, 2001)
The best book
Whale Talk is a very interesting book, even though it is boring in the beginning and I almost brought the book back and almost picked another book to read but I decided not to and I'm glad I didn't because this is a great book. Its about a colored boy named T.J who was adopted because his mother did drugs and he was adopted to a mother who is a lawyer and he also has a dad and they are both very nice and they always wanted a kid but never could have one. T.J likes to swim, so he gets people together to make a swim team and a reason why he is doing this is because he wants him and the other people on his team to have there own letter jackets, because in there school you cant where a letter jacket unless you earned it by doing a sport or activity. So T.J gets a swim team together and the people on his swim team are people who dot really fit in with other people at school but they all get to know each other and become friends.
Great Book.
Whale Talk is about a teenager named T.J. Jones. He has a very hard and unhappy childhood, his mother leaves him and someone adopts him. The parents that adopted him are very nice and kind. His dad looks like a crazy biker, but is actually a soft-hearted man, especially when it comes to kids. His mom is a lawyer and helps T.J. alot. The storyline is basically T.J. trying to start a swimming team. He tries to gain more members and it the end he gets a swim team filled with misfits. They work hard and get to know each other good. The book ends with a surprising chapter, and it teaches T.J. a big lesson.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Fiction    4. High schools    5. Juvenile Fiction    6. School & Education    7. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    8. High schools    9. Sports & Recreation - Water Sports    10. Swimming    11. Juvenile Fiction / Social Situations / Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance    12. Social Situations - Physical & Emotional Abuse    13. Social Situations - Prejudice & Racism   

Editorial Review

Read more

Reviews (1334)

a favorite
this book is beautifully written. i would reccommend it to anyone. not only is the fictional story compelling, the historical background is woven in without distracting or feeling "educational". i finished this story completely in love with these characters and with a better appreciation for all the american luxuries we take for granted.

Fabulous page-turner marred by simplistic historical analysis and moralizing
Barbara Kingsolver's THE POISONWOOD BIBLE is a mesmerizing narrative spanning about 40 years, chronicling the clash of African and Western history and culture by narrating the adventures of the Price family.